


A Study in Velvet

by ScarfyTheShipster



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, ロード・エルメロイⅡ世の事件簿 - 三田誠 | Lord El-Melloi II Case Files - Sanda Makoto
Genre: BOTH people in a relationship should be dynamic, Banter, Case Files timeline, Comedy, Coping, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Emotional, Emotional Baggage, Explicit Sexual Content, Gen, Hair Brushing, Hair-pulling, Happy Ending, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I gave Iskandar some character development and you can pry it out of my cold dead hands, Intimacy, Laughter During Sex, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Personal Growth, Self-Esteem Issues, Sensuality, Slice of Life, Snippets, minor alcohol use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24562981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarfyTheShipster/pseuds/ScarfyTheShipster
Summary: Iskandar is back in Waver's life in London, and with him Waver's life changes.In the spirit of why I'm drawn to their relationship, it's a bit of everything. From goofy, silly comic relief to deeper discussions, honesty, and some of the waxing philosophical we all put up with from time to time in Zero, my goal was to encompass their relationship, all the fun but all the serious notes I could. Bonus: some cameos of Waver's students!-~-‘Boyfriend’ wasn’t the right word. It was flimsy, casual. It felt too light for the permanent, heavy mix of emotions in his soul regarding Iskandar. Servant and master turned king and subject- yet also friends with the previous push and pull of a mentor and student relationship. It was all too much to pin down, even ten years after losing Iskandar and having him back again. Their physical relationship had started soon after he’d brought Iskandar back, half embraces and close proximity turning to kisses and close hugs. What Greek definition of love resided inside him? It had been about a month and he still didn’t know.
Relationships: Iskandar | Rider & Waver Velvet, Iskandar | Rider/Waver Velvet
Comments: 22
Kudos: 118





	A Study in Velvet

_ Legendary images passed down through time paint many murals, vases, canvases, and minds. Perhaps, for some out there in the world, such as children growing up reading stories of heroic adventure or adults who never stopped dreaming, there was a place for a schoolboy astride a great warhorse, with an even greater man behind him. _

_ For Waver, it had been his reality. A reality of gripping an ancient, worn saddle horn for dear life as a beast so mighty it could hardly be called a horse raced across roads, sands, even the sky with the power and majesty of the very waves ancient people said horses arose from. There he sat, a scrawny boy in a dress shirt and tie with Iskandar, King of Conquerors at his back, a direct contract between the largest and smallest of men. Perhaps many dreamed this sort of thing, to charge into battle with pounding hearts and untamed hoofbeats, regular people mixing with heroes, the mundane allowed to experience something fantastic. _

_ He’d always thought the experience had been wasted on him. _

_ Waver, the arrogant, impulsive, bratty, genius, failure of a man. This was a dream that belonged to someone else- he didn’t dream, he hadn’t dreamt, not truly before Iskandar- _

_ And yet that was what did it. His king inspired him to dream, and for that their time together must have been worthwhile. Someday, he hoped to be worthy of it. _

Ten years later, he still struggled to see himself as any amount of worthy.

Even though Iskandar was back.

-~-

‘Boyfriend’ wasn’t the right word. It was flimsy, casual. It felt too light for the permanent, heavy mix of emotions in his soul regarding Iskandar. Servant and master turned king and subject- yet also friends with the previous push and pull of a mentor and student relationship. It was all too much to pin down, even ten years after losing Iskandar and having him back again. Their physical relationship had started soon after he’d brought Iskandar back, half embraces and close proximity turning to kisses and close hugs. What Greek definition of love resided inside him? It had been about a month and he still didn’t know.

Iskandar was a little bit of everything to Waver. It was all he could do to offer himself back. Was every breath since that night a decade ago not for his king?

The fact that the King of Conquerers was satisfied, for the time being, in Waver’s life was flattering itself. It was a whirlwind, really, having Iskandar around. Waver was messy, and Iskandar compounded it between bouts of intense cleaning. The man read voraciously with the sort of fervor Waver wished upon all his students, consuming history books, documentaries, religious texts, and anything else from stores and libraries that caught his eye such as biographies and speeches as though he wanted to understand two thousand years of the whole world all at once.

Iskandar was far from being a homebody. The Clock Tower had no shortage of trouble to throw them into, and Iskandar seemed to flourish with his students, his social charisma granting him easy friendships that Waver marveled at. Then again, why was he surprised? Iskandar’s fierce, rallying, literally larger than life personality had touched him profoundly too.

While Waver would pay to see Iskandar unleashed at certain world leaders, he supposed that watching Iskandar marvel at the Atlantic Ocean from the English coast and enjoy modern life was a happy medium for them both. At least Waver assumed it was a medium- Iskandar outwardly basked in all the 21st century had to offer, but a nagging worry still resided in his heart that Iskandar would tire of his little flat. Waver still balanced being a professor and the unfortunate successor to the El-Melloi family. At least he was alive. Complicated, but alive. 

Life was as good as he’d ever hoped it to be.

Well, except…

Everything in Waver’s life seemed more difficult than it needed to be.

Like losing his virginity.

-~-

Trial 1:

“If it has a calorie count, it isn’t going in my ass!” 

“Oh.” Iskandar held the bottle of olive oil in his hand and scratched his head. Things had gotten a bit steamy between them, kissing in the kitchen like hormonally riled up newly weds. Waver had been in a blissful haze until Iskandar, for some reason, had opened a cupboard and pulled out the olive oil, making Waver spring back as he deduced his intentions. “It doesn’t have to go-“

“No! No olive oil! Not on my body or yours!” Waver frantically waved his arms.

“Well then, we have the modern day equivalent somewhere, yes?” Iskandar, damn him, grinned and followed Waver to the other side of the kitchen where Waver was backed up against the sink.

Oh no. “Er, no.” Waver sheepishly ducked his head, resting his forehead against Iskander’s chest. Sex was an afterthought to Waver. In fact, he’d barely thought about it at all before Iskandar was back, like an item on a shopping list he was always forgetting. He took in a shaky breath and half affectionately and half exasperatedly smacked Iskandar’s chest. It hurt his hand. “Honestly! What am I, a chicken to you?!”

Not much used to bring out Lord El-Melloi II’s inner brat, not since becoming a distinguished professor. (Flat was an outlier and should not be counted.) Iskandar seemed to be an expert at it. 

“Heh! Hey now, I’ll have you know that I’ve put olive oil on m-“

“Do NOT tell me that it has medicinal benefits for your- exterior reproductive organ, Your Majesty.”

Iskandar huffed gruffly and raised Waver’s head to look in his eyes. “So I won’t tell you. Now then, I shall procure some modern sexual oil!” he declared, Iskandar already marching towards the front door.

“Right.” Waver grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s called lubricant and- oh for fuck’s sake I better go with you. Wait!” 

Mark one London sex shop Waver refused for be a repeat customer in.

Trial 2:

Waver still had nights where he defaulted to the couch, spilling his limbs all over it like a liquid spider when he finally passed out asleep. Nightmares were less and less frequent. He usually slept chasing the ocean astride a great black horse with Iskandar behind him only to wake up and be in Iskandar’s arms in the real world too. Without fail, Iskandar came to his rescue whenever Waver fell asleep somewhere odd.

“Hm?” Waver stirred awake as strong arms picked him up with the ease of carrying a doll. 

“I get sympathy pains for your joints just looking at you like that. You must sleep properly to be well rested!”

“Alright, alright.” Waver rested his head against Iskandar’s chest for the short trip back to his bedroom, their bedroom. Sharing their space had been an unspoken natural agreement since their first day back together in this space cozier than the upstairs room of the Mackenzie’s house. 

Despite having grown a full foot, Waver still felt small compared to Iskandar. So did the rest of the population, he supposed. Warm butterflies fluttered in his chest as Iskandar set him down on the bed. Waver couldn’t tell who moved to kiss who first, only aware that the second his back touched the mattress he was reaching for Iskander to keep from losing him, their lips melding together with Iskandar straddling his form above him. This part always felt natural, good. He’d gotten the hang of kissing and was proud that Iskandar always seemed to want more of him, kissing deeply with an intent that made Waver’s body heat up with a thrill he didn’t know how to channel.

Iskandar’s calloused palm rode up Waver’s t-shirt and Waver couldn’t hold back a moan. He pressed up into the touch eagerly. Iskandar pulled back to let Waver toss his shirt off and mimicked the motion with a grin.

“You’re quite cuddly when you’re half asleep, I see.”

“Hmm. Take these off before I think too much.” Waver tugged the waistband of Iskandar’s pants, or ‘leggings’ as Iskandar called them. Waver figured that once all their articles of clothing were finally off, something would magically happen and it would all fade to black for romantic love making, his intellect and insufferable personality suppressed. It would be perfect and Iskandar would adore him. 

Iskandar kissed Waver’s cheek and worked on discarding his clothes. “No need to be so uptight and nervous- I’ve never disappointed a lover.”

Iskandar’s pants came off.

Waver snapped wide awake.

Waver stared. As a mathematician, scientist, and man who had faced forces in this life beyond comprehension, there was no way, just absolutely no way that was going to fit anywhere comfortably. It was like a Tetris puzzle that had no solution. There were a lot of things he could’ve said, when faced with something of Iskander’s size, but the words that fought their way out of his newly color drained face first were, “You should’ve been a Lancer class.”

Laughter boomed from Iskandar’s chest as it always did, not an ounce of shame or modesty in his ridiculously huge body as Waver’s legs reflexively closed, a primal survival instinct kicking in. “Ha Ha! Fear not, beloved. Perhaps I am still a Rider class- just not the one riding.”

“Eurghhhh.” Waver made a face like he’s stepped in something wet while wearing socks and pressed his face into his palms as though weeping. “I can’t do this, not today!”

“What’s wrong, Waver?” Iskandar flopped down beside Waver, still smirking. “Are you a Saber class? Don’t worry- the whole lances beat swords thing is only in Fire Emblem.”

Something like a goose honk erupted from Waver’s lungs. Smiles, laughter- they often appeared more as attempts than confident displays of joy, as though Waver knew the theory by heart but had difficulty obtaining the results. He collapsed by Iskandar on the bed, curling up beside him. Waver sighed and rested his head on Iskandar’s shoulder, at peace again when Iskandar draped an arm around him to hold him close. “I need to rethink my strategy.”

“Hmmm. You’ll live, Waver.” Iskander huffed gruffly and said in a grave tone of voice that barely restrained amusement. “Sex isn’t Classic Mode. Just hard!”

“I can’t believe you’re the man I love most in the world.” The mood was gone but Waver was content, dozing off again with the weight of Iskandar’s palm comfortingly rubbing his back. 

“I see you need to process my magnificence.”

“I’m never going down on you, you realise that right? It’s physically impossible.”

Iskandar laughed again, bulk and strength holding Waver as if to protect him from the outside world. “Just rest, love.”

-~-

Trial 3:

Waver knew he had issues. Insecurity, anxiety, inexperience- all the things that didn’t matter when he was a professor to his students but that he couldn’t keep from an intimate relationship. He couldn’t seal it all away with Iskandar. No one wanted to be anyone’s first, right? Yet here he was, almost thirty and being eaten alive by his demons over stupid things.

“Waver, you let Gray brush your hair. I may not have a woman’s touch but it’s simple enough!” 

Long hair cascaded down Waver’s back. It was perfectly even when brushed out, but frizzy and tangled after he woke up if he slept with it loose which of course he always did. Iskandar had surprised him by reaching for the hairbrush before him, and now Waver was glad to be facing away from him as his face warmed up. 

It was because he was awful at taking care of himself, wasn’t it? “I- uh.”

“I’ll be gentle. I used to have a braid back in the day, you know.”

The mental image of Iskandar with a grand flowing mane of hair was so startling that Waver let him start brushing from the bottom of his hair with short strokes without a word. Had Iskandar looked different as a child? Maybe it was his beard that was braided. That brought a tired smile to Waver’s face. “I suppose I don’t want to feel like I’m letting my king serve me.”

Iskandar paused. “Serve you? Heh, I’m doing this for a purely selfish reason.”

Waver furrowed his brows as Iskandar brushed again, smoothing out the strands and teasing his back with the bristles as a side effect. “What selfish reason?”

“I enjoy touching my lover, of course! It Isn't a matter of service or power if I thoroughly enjoy it. Not much is in bed, unless you make it so for some reason.” Waver’s shoulders relaxed, reassured. Iskandar finished with the brush and ran his fingers through Waver’s hair and then- as though it had just occurred to him and like he hadn’t done it all the time a decade ago- he put a palm on the top of Waver’s head and tousled his hair.

“Ack!”

“Heh heh! You’re cute when you’re flustered!”

Waver whipped around to grab the brush but instead his hand landed on top of Iskandar’s. The momentum carried him into Iskandar’s lap and suddenly they were kissing, unable to leave bed, hands clasped together. Was this it? Was this the morning they would-

The door creaked open.

“Sir? O-oh.” Waver let go of Iskandar and sprang off the bed as Gray ducked her head, visibly turning red under her hood. “I’ll see you in awhile then.”

“No, no! I’m late for class aren't I?!” Waver scrambled to run to the door and slammed his foot into his bedframe instead, groaning and collapsing back on top of the mattress.

“It’s Saturday, Sir,” said Gray, turning again so the redness and also laughter on her face wasn’t visible.

Iskandar picked up Waver by the back of his t-shirt, holding him like a kitten by the scruff of the neck. Waver’s entire body went limp and he scowled at Iskandar’s wide grin. “Well then, boy! We have the day to ourselves!”

“I’m sure that demon Reines has work for us to do,” pointed out Waver, desperately.

“Right then!” declared Iskandar. “We will go out and conquer those who would disturb our day together! Your world is still swarming with evil, we shall not rest until we have subdued it!”

Iskandar often made declarations and grand speeches in normal conversation, at a volume a few notches above anyone else. He walked down the street like he was the mayor of nothing. Perhaps he still was a king in his mind, and in Waver’s heart, but  _ really _ . Waver busied himself with getting dressed, watching Iskandar leave the room with Gray to eat breakfast. Iskandar had no qualms about looking her in the eyes, praising her, asking her to be bolder. She lived as an echo of the King of Knights, and Iskandar did an even better job than Waver, her teacher, at bringing out the parts of her that were Gray out from under the hood and the too familiar hair.

Waver swallowed hard. How did Iskandar make looking like his job as a teacher so easy? It was how he’d grown too, with Iskandar’s light in his life, that music in the ocean waves and thundering hooves called inspiration. He stood in the doorway to the rest of the flat and watched Iskandar crack eggs into a bowl while Gray measured ingredients for a triple batch of pancakes. Whatever he did, Iskandar wanted his company involved. He wanted them to live right along with him in anything from devouring pancakes to waging war.

“Waver!” Iskandar brought Waver out of his daydreaming. Waver slumped into the kitchen, limping slightly from his unsuccessful attack on his own bed. “Cook some meat, eh? You can’t make Gray do all the work!”

“What else are students for?” Waver huffed. “I’m kidding, Lady, of course I’ll help.” Waver reached into the fridge for a package of sausages and then up in the cupboard for the olive oil. He narrowed his eyes at it, remembering the last time he’d looked at the bottle, and turned to face Iskandar.

A moment of eye contact was all it took for their laughter to erupt in the kitchen, Waver’s own surprising him.

-~-

Trial 4:

Flat and Iskandar.

Two forces that should never meet. It was inevitable, but it would haunt Waver forever.

“Eyyy, Professor Charisma!” Flat trotted up to Waver. The group was going on something of a field trip, and by field trip he meant charging off into a crime scene with his gaggle of high firepower students and Iskandar. “Come on then, let me, your smartest student, ride shotgun!”

“No. That’s for Gray.” Gray, who was almost hiding in Iskandar’s cloak. Waver wrinkled his nose like he’d eaten eel bento. “I need someone calm beside me while I wrangle the rest of you.”

Waver’s face remained as he heard Svin making exaggerated sniffing sounds behind him. He admired his work ethic and his powers, and would probably literally die for him, but... “You really do smell like steak, professor! Well-seasoned, peppery, juicy steak.”

Iskandar sniffed too. Waver braced himself. “Really?! I never noticed. You sure our professor doesn’t just smell bitter? Like coffee, perhaps?”

“Not bitter, just savory! He likes his coffee with cream and sugar, but sometimes he has a hint of flowers of Gray’s been close. You smell sort of like-”

Waver threw his head back with a screech like an exasperated crow. “Everyone get in the SUV!”

Another change to Waver’s life. While it had earned him some mockery and scorn from the younger students, it had only taken one ride with Iskandar crammed in the back with Flat on his lap to convince Waver to get a bigger car. Soccer mom this, cool dad that- none of it mattered as much as letting Iskandar take up a row of seats for himself as long as none of his students experienced Iskandar’s thighs like that ever again. It didn’t stop him from still glaring into the rear view mirror at his rowdy passengers the entire trip.

Iskandar shot him a wide grin from the backseat while Svin sniffed Iskandar’s arm, Flat asked if Svin ever felt tempted to stick his head and tongue out the window, Caules, who Waver had forgotten was even in the car with them, attempted to write in a notebook and also talk to Iskandar, and Gray obediently watched the road for danger as the only passenger with a brain cell. His only saving grace was that Yvette and Reines weren’t there to slam his other buttons.

Waver looked through the windshield and gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles and grit his teeth. ‘ **I love my students. I love my students. I love my students,’** he chanted internally as a mantra.

He did love them. He just wished Iskandar didn’t turn everyone else’s volume up. Waver gave in and lit a cigarette at the first red light, rolling the window down and letting the smoke deal with his frazzled nerves. 

He’d hoped that, once back home after investigating a scene, that life would return to being bearable and peaceful again. To some degree it did. Gray went out shopping and Iskandar pulled Waver onto the couch, a Nintendo Gamecube controller already in his hands.

“We must conquer the racetrack together!”

Waver eagerly picked him his own controller and hunched over on his seat on the edge of the couch in a way that could make any other adult in the world shout at him for ruining the furniture. Video games were a perfect common ground. With anyone else he might’ve felt as though his interest pushed them away or have felt pressure to not play so much (not that social pressure moved Waver an inch) but the interest itself had come _ from _ Iskandar like so many other things about Waver. Mario Kart Double Dash felt awfully familiar.

“You know, Waver, your students have a myriad of nicknames for you.”

“We’re playing co-op, there’s no reason to try and distract me!”

“Ah, but I have a duty!” This ought to be good. “As your lover, I should have the best epithets and nicknames for you!” Oh no. 

“I’m afraid I’m no Aphrodite or Adonis.”

Iskandar opened his mouth and then closed it again, obviously rethinking his approach. Waver wouldn’t believe any over the top mythological references to beauty or comparisons to constellations regarding their love. Iskandar had to directly compete, then. “Alright then. An upgrade from Professor Charisma would be Doctor Sexy!”

Waver gagged on air, blood rushing violently to his face as he choked and his eyes watered. “NO!”

“Hey! I still think in my native language. It sounds poetic in Ancient Greek.” Iskandar was obviously holding in laughter. “Dignified!” 

“If you make me think about Flat in our bedroom I’ll  _ be _ flat!” Waver snapped, ears burning red as Iskandar laughed good naturedly. 

How they finished the race in first was a miracle.

-~-

Trial 5:

Waver was less turbulent than he had been as a child… but the inferiority and fear still haunted him, his eyes seeing a nineteen year old when he glanced at his reflection. 

Liquid courage was what they called alcohol. Waver used it more to numb than rally his nerves, but perhaps it could be useful. It had been two months since he started dating Iskandar. Waver still felt ashamed. Inadequate. He was tethering Iskandar to him and yet denying him his body. Judging by how easily flustered the topic of sex made him, how everyone seemed so interested in the status of his virginity, and how very open and shameless Iskandar was about sex- he was lagging far behind. The idea of disappointing Iskandar or being abandoned or any other such irrational, anxiety induced fear fueled a poor decision. 

Whiskey was disgusting but Waver still downed the glass quickly, chasing it down with a separate glass of water. He took a deep breath. 

This was wrong.

This wasn’t how he should approach intimacy and he knew immediately that he’d made a mistake. 

He couldn’t do it. Not like this. 

Waver closed his eyes and swallowed hard, willing back tears. He was stupid. 

“You know, a man should only drink what he actually enjoys. You tend to drink whiskey when you’re upset.” Iskandar. Right on time. Waver swallowed again and felt only guilt as a warm hand rested on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” Iskandar was too soft, too gentle, too caring for what he deserved- 

“It’s OBVIOUS! You don’t have to pretend!” Toxic, loathing, poisonous words always forced themselves out of Waver from the depths of his mind with forceful hisses and bursts of wild, out of control spitting anger the likes of which he never directed at anyone else. Waver’s fists clenched. “I’m a disappointment and a failure! I can’t even get over my own inexperience to be a proper boyfriend! You- you have every right to be angry with me!”

Dead silence. 

Iskandar removed his hand from Waver’s back and the loss of physical affection made him start crying, head bowed and stomach flipping with fear. A light tap on the floor made Waver turn his head to see Iskandar down on one knee. A king shouldn’t kneel, but Waver couldn’t get his words out. Iskandar looked directly into his eyes, sorrow plainly on his face. “Waver, what have I done that could make you think I’m angry? Why do you think your consent and readiness aren’t important to me? Why, after all this time, do you value your own safety and comfort so little?” His voice was low and grave and Waver’s heart sunk with it.

“I’m thirty. I- I’m sorry.”

Iskandar snorted. “You’re forgiven for the crime of being thirty, but it can’t be helped.”

Waver closed his eyes again and trembled like a leaf. “I should be ready. I should be experienced for you. I just- I want to give myself to you but I haven’t been able to!”

He shook still and waited with baited breath. Iskandar stood back up. Waver didn’t know what to expect and he was still startled. “You’ve always been a strange boy.”

“Huh?”

“You haven’t talked to many men on how they feel about taking virgins, have you?” 

Waver’s face burned. “No.”

Iskandar brought Waver into his arms and Waver buried his face in Iskandar’s chest. His tears stained Iskandar’s shirt. “I haven’t had sex for over 2300 years. I can wait a little longer, Waver.” Waver smiled against the damp fabric of Iskandar’s shirt. His next sentence brought Waver back to earth again. “You aren’t used to being loved.” It was a statement, and one that pierced Waver to his core.

“I’m not,” he whispered.

“I know, because you won’t let me love you how you need it.” 

Waver’s head shot up and he sniffed. “What do you mean?! I’m yours, all of me, my heart and soul, everything!”

“You are mine,” agreed Iskandar. “And I know you love me.” He stroked Waver’s hair and rested a palm on his cheek. “But  _ being _ loved is different. It’s humbling, difficult, and frightening to let someone take care of you and carry your burdens with you. I want every bit of you. I can’t love you and talk to you like we need if you hide things like this from me.” Iskandar hugged Waver close. “Never hold back your tears with me again.” 

Something inside Waver broke.

Iskandar had always been a man proud of his emotions, passion, and tears. He’d encouraged it in Waver too, although Caster’s old workshop hadn’t been the place to express it. Waver certainly didn’t hide his emotions well unless he made an effort in front of his students, but this was different.

This wasn’t breaking down with his palms on the pavement of an empty bridge or alone in his room with just a scrap of cloth for comfort. He had someone. He had  _ Iskandar _ . Waver simply dissolved on Iskandar as his soul wrung itself out- the shock at the gore of bodies Caster and his master had murdered, the humiliation and genuine fear Kayneth El-Melloi had subjected Waver to, every violent, sad, unjust, horrific event Waver had witnessed and then simply had to soldier on through surfaced in his mind as he sobbed without restraint. 

Vulnerable, ugly, distraught. It was everything unsightly about crying, and the warm, strong support from Iskandar never faded.

As he breathed normally again, Waver sniffled and realized his head felt lighter than he could remember and he actually felt… okay. It was like an old injury finally making a step towards healing, a burden he was so used to lightening that he’d forgotten he didn’t used to bear it.

“Thank you.” Waver squeezed Iskandar’s thick body. “You have me too.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“I promise I’ll try to reach for you before a bottle.”

“At least make it a bottle of something good.” Iskandar’s own eyes were moist despite the smile, and he swore he might’ve seen a tear stain on his cheek. Life hadn’t been gentle to either of them. When he guided Waver to bed to curl up together and sleep, Waver slept better than he had for years. 

-~-

Trial 6:

There wasn’t a place in Waver’s apartment more comfortable than Iskandar’s lap. Iskandar sat on the floor against the front of the couch reading a textbook at what must’ve been close to midnight. He had a pensive aura whenever he read, his expression the same as when Waver had woken up a decade before on the final night of their participation in the Grail War, eyes staring at the stars and streetlights without a word about what was happening behind them.

Waver’s true talent in life was being able to sleep at a moment’s notice. However, he preferred to stay awake when snuggling Iskandar. His head rested on Iskandar’s shoulder and his knees were propped up on one of Iskandar’s thighs, the rest of him settled comfortably in the dip between Iskandar’s broad limbs. His own assignments and papers were done for the night, leaving Waver surrendering to rest before Iskandar. He dozed under a blanket with Iskandar’s arm around him. Iskandar’s palm rubbed his back in soothing circles as he read, pleased to have Waver’s company but quiet all the same. The books Iskandar devoured were mostly nonfiction but sometimes something like Les Misérables or Sherlock Holmes stories stuck out, as though pillars of modern culture and literature that had withstood the test of time by over a hundred year were as important as facts. Debatably, they were. 

He shifted against Iskandar, arm around Iskandar’s shoulders. Something warm and lazy within him made Waver smile, hand in Iskandar’s hair. “Hey.”

Iskandar glanced down at him, surprised Waver was awake. “Well hey. Do you want to go to bed?”

“No, I can do this right here.” Waver angled his head up and their lips met, lingering for a few moments in a soft kiss. It tapered off with a sigh from Waver, trying to nestle closer. He kissed Iskandar again on his cheek, but the same pensive look was back and Iskandar didn’t seem in a mood to heat things up. It was alright. “You seem lost in thought.”

“A more accurate sentiment than you realize, boy.” Iskandar set the book aside and fully held Waver. Even speaking softly, his voice reverberated in his chest close to Waver’s ear. 

“A king must understand his people to lead them.” Waver settled in for a speech, sensing this had been brewing for a while. Iskandar gestured to the messy room of books, papers, and a laptop and TV set up around them. “Servants are given information about the modern world they’re summoned to, and I haven’t forgotten what I know.

“But knowing something and feeling it are different.” Iskandar idly scratched Waver’s back, his hand stationary but his fingers moving back and forth. “I stand by what I said- I do not regret. I grieve but never condemn my past and those who rode with me.

“This time I’ve had is only a shallow amount as a man yet it’s been profound. War is not as it was back in my time. It is beyond the machines and tactics of the last century or two, it’s the very world itself! The globe is completely filled in on every continent with borders in every latitude and longitude. There is nowhere unknown, no ocean at the edge. Even a cursory glance at history tells me the soil under my feet is weary and filled with the dead of the past. The earth and her people have been trampled again and again. 

“ _ To win, but not destroy; to conquer, but not humiliate: _ this has been long gone from the battlefields of earth.” Waver sat up slightly, waking up as he realized this was a genuine change coming over Iskandar. This was still his Iskandar, but he spoke as though he truly was 2300 years old. 

“Are you saying your dream has changed?”

“In method.” Iskandar nodded. “It has, Waver, because everything else has.” He tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling. “I wonder if Saber would still wish for her Camelot’s salvation if she knew the British Empire would, at one point, cover 25% of the planet?!” he exclaimed. “It’s incredible! I could spend a lifetime researching it-“ he paused. “Researching and seeing the misery it caused. Reading and realizing King Arthur was not an emperor, and perhaps she would denounce the global power Britain became. There are countries all over who celebrate independence from others such as Britain or Spain. The soldiers of today follow governments, not individual kings and emperors for their own passionate beliefs. It is a world of mercenaries.

“Passion, influence, power, everything I stood for in my men who I led and inspired are often found off the battlefield now.” Iskandar was getting so riled up he stood and set Waver on the couch while he paced.

“From the book of Matthew in the New Testament, years after my time:  _ Come after me, and I shall make you to become fishers of men _ .” Iskandar snapped his fingers. “Inspiration and leadership in a perfect metaphor. To be a fisher of men, to gather disciples around you for your most core important, life and after death beliefs- that is exactly it! To go from twelve to all over the world- wonderful! That red text is worth studying, boy!

“And more than that, so many people see the whole world as one! To quote Victor Hugo, a man resting in the Pantheon with the highest honors of his nation, “ _ Was there any such thing as "foreign war"? Was not all warfare between men warfare between brothers? _ ” Iskandar tapped his foot. “I never looked across the battlefield to consider any man opposing me a brother in arms by virtue of being human. Only once they joined me would I have even considered it. It simply never occurred to me. Philosophy has changed, the way people think is so different! Imagine how I must feel, to be in a world where the very thoughts inside people’s souls are beyond those what I could have ever imagined! What a gift! 

Waver watched Iskandar pace and practically rant with awe. Waver himself often read and contemplated texts with aloofness, while Iskandar was a being of pure energy. Just as he sought to impact others, he took in what touched him fiercely. Waver could understand now what he must’ve been like in his own time and why he immediately wanted to get his hands back on Homer’s poems. Rallying words were in his blood. Iskandar’s fire and spirit were in his words, not his muscles. Iskandar stopped by a globe on display on a rare, clean part of his bookshelf and gave it a gentle spin, staring at it. “And when the world spins like this as I know it does now, those lines are hard to see. I understand why and how in a world where people traverse oceans and can call someone across the planet within seconds why some are global citizens! We even have star sailors outside of our planet! No magic, no powers but the minds of humanity! It’s BRILLIANT!

“Saber might not recognize Britain and its history were she here. Camelot is long gone.” The globe stopped spinning and Iskandar faced Waver. “Just as my Ancient Greece and Macedonia are gone. I can say with certainty, I do not believe the people who live where I did millennia ago would welcome a king such as myself to lead now as I did then.”

Waver nodded. It seemed like a given, but to Iskandar, it must’ve taken time to process.

Iskandar was winding down but still standing, marveling at life itself with an energy most people couldn’t muster.  _ ‘How many of us forget to be amazed by these things?’ _ wondered Waver. Most people were annoyed once they had to deal with something like a computer printer that refused to cooperate rather than be dazzled by the time period they were in. Waver certainly was one of them.

“So, Waver, I see people doing as I did off the battlefield. It makes me consider my own future, what I will do beyond our errands and my ongoing mission to understand this world with all the information I could ask for at my fingertips, with this eagle eye view of the world modern times have. I admire those who are gathering and conquering hearts. Influencers, leaders- and teachers.” Iskandar grinned. “One teacher in particular!”

Waver stared blankly.

This was so much.

This was too much.

“You can’t mean me.”

“I do.”

Waver had lived his life in Iskandar’s boot prints but on his own path. He’d tried, certainly, but his first instinct was to reject the compliment, to insist he wasn’t there yet. “I still do not hold a candle to you.”

Iskandar put his hands on his hips. “Agreed. You should be more ambitious while you have these years as Lord in the Clock Tower! What you have done is remarkable, but I would not be Iskandar if I didn’t acknowledge how well you’ve done but also push you higher!”

His own lack of ambition was something Waver was aware of, but didn’t work to improve. What he already did was exhausting. He didn’t have much left except to fall asleep after his teaching days with a controller, cigarette, or glass in his hands, but he’d expected Iskandar to speak as he did. “My ambition is about all I can handle right now,” he admitted. “We’re both just a couple of tiny dots.” Iskandar nodded, visibly pleased that Waver remembered his words from years ago. “And my ambitions…”

For years he’d just wanted to be treated as any other student. As he got older he realized his perspective was skewed, but he remembered his teenage years when he needed support, when he needed it more desperately than ever. Waver’s abrasive, arrogant, ambitious attitude may have alienated him from his own teachers, but only after they had shooed him away with head pats in response to theories, not given him the time of day he desired. Just because he was different, poor, had lost his parents, didn’t come from any power to speak of didn’t mean he wasn’t a person who just wanted to learn and grow, who just wanted help to do it! What else were teachers for?! Why didn’t they care?! Why didn’t  _ someone- _

“...are just a few, other, tiny dots like me.” 

Waver wondered what Iskandar would do, if that bright admiration for him would fade.

Iskandar just walked toward him and put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a squeeze. “I’m so proud of you for it.”

Proud. Of him. He shouldn’t be so fragile, but Waver didn’t stop a tear from running down his face. “Did you know I became Svin’s teacher when he was about eight? And when we met Flat, also just a kid a short time later, Svin was so shy he hid behind my legs- he’d never been treated like a person. And Gray, who grew up in a graveyard, made with the intention of being a sacrifice, even you see how she’s learning to be herself.” He wiped his face. “I’m assassination bait as it is- but someone commanded me to  _ live!  _ And so I’ll live for you and my students as long as they need me! I won’t die for fairy tales either! I’m a useless substitute Lord and I don’t care!”

Iskandar swept Waver up in his arms and held him, tight and close, voice gruff with emotion. “You’re more than their teacher just like I’m more than your king. They’ll need you your whole life. You’re their family.”

Waver took deep breaths. “I know.”

“And that’s why I’m proud of you.” Iskandar smoothed Waver’s hair. “My fledgling. You did, in my absence, what’s stumped me ever since you brought me back. You found a place in this foreign world to live and give your life meaning. In that sense, you’ve led me too.”

It was a shock, but Waver was beginning to accept it. “Really?”

“Of course.” Iskandar held Waver for comfort as much as Waver did him. “I know the type of path I desire to walk, much of it right at your side! If I’m lucky, I’ll be their family too. Them and whatever other souls the years guide me to meet.”

Waver relaxed in their embrace. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll hold you to that.”

Trial 7:

Waver wished it had happened in a more romantic way.

He really did.

This was Iskandar, a man who meant too much to him to put into words. It should’ve been planned and sweet and perfect. 

It was horribly embarrassing. 

It had been awhile since the olive oil incident, and the spoils from that particular shopping trip remained unopened. Waver had always had a libido, although he was fortunate that it had calmed down since he was 19. He wanted this. He absolutely wanted Iskandar, and it was going to happen.

He held the small bottle of lubricant in his hands. It was a simple substance with a straightforward purpose. Perhaps he’d feel confident if he popped it open and investigated. Waver listened for Iskandar, able to hear their TV a room away. Good. Waver carefully drizzled some on his fingertips, eyeing the clear, slick liquid. He was unable to testify to it’s biological accuracy, but as he stretched and toyed with it between his fingers, he admitted it must do the job well. 

He narrowed his eyes bringing his hand closer to his face. It was water based, but he didn’t notice any issues with it drying up too fast. Waver was so absorbed and weighing the pros and cons of having such a liquid inside him when-

“You really are a strange boy.”

Waver jumped, hurriedly wiping off his hand on the bed. Iskandar leaned on the doorframe, smirking at his instant fluster. “ACK! Listen! I had to make sure it was… adequate… for interior use.”

Iskandar stared. “Interior? Waver?”

Waver shrank back, sealing the bottle. “What are you looking at me like that for?! I wasn’t eating it, we didn’t get a flavored one, I think that’s weird that they even make those…”

“You DO know that I have no intention of penetrating you, right?”

What.

Waver dropped the bottle on the bed. Iskandar grinned widely and Waver stood up, waving his arms. No! This was ridiculous! What did he mean?! “WHAT?!”

“Oh, is this why you’ve been so worked up about this?” Iskandar looked so innocent when he was confused. Waver hated that he still looked adorably puzzled while discussing exactly where his huge cock was going. “I guess we should have discussed this, but I didn’t realize you didn’t even know you don’t have to have penetration for sex. Hands, thighs-”

“Thighs,” repeated Waver.

“Yeah! It’s convenient and a lot more comfortable for you. Honestly, back in my day, lot of male lovers might not have ever had penetrative sex. I bet today is the same.” Iskandar looked sympathetic for a moment before laughter erupted out of his chest while Waver fumed and sizzled with rage. “BOY! Don’t you have any self preservation instincts?!”

“YES I DO!” shouted Waver. “I’ve spent two months trying to figure out how I’m going to sit on that second noble phantasm of yours without getting sent to another dimension!”

Iskandar chuckled, shaking his head. He settled on the bed, sitting down gingerly while Waver stood a foot away, scowling at the floor, one eyebrow arched with disgust as he trembled as though he was full of bees, angry at himself. Iskandar reached out and laid a hand on Waver’s hip, guiding him to stand between Iskandar’s knees. Waver’s expression didn’t change. It took all of Iskandar’s threadbare self restraint to not laugh again. “Listen, Waver.” He stroked Waver’s side, glad when Waver’s stormy expression relaxed by a few degrees. “I am sorry that we had this miscommunication. I would never want to hurt you or make you uncomfortable. If you did want, er, intercourse like that, that’s best left down the road. I just thought you were shy all this time.”

“I was,” he mumbled.

“C’mere.” Iskandar scooted back on the bed and reclined on a pile of pillows against the wall, both hands holding Waver’s hips and he climbed on and straddled Iskandar. They’d cuddled like this before, he was already in familiar territory again. Waver put his arms around Iskandar’s shoulders, leaning their foreheads together. He sighed, calming down and growing warmer with how close they were. Iskandar stroked Waver’s cheek and pet his hair, soothing him even further. Even near the end of the Grail War, their physical relationship had these subtle, warm touches that calmed Waver down and comforted him. The effect was just as strong now as Waver leaned into his hand. “I want to cherish every bit of you.”

Waver closed his eyes and hummed. “Even though I made all that fuss over nothing?”

“It’s not nothing. It really is a second noble phantasm!” he boomed.

“I regret saying that.”

Iskandar hummed and kissed Waver’s neck, smiling against the skin as Waver shivered and sighed, the softness of lips and scruffiness of Iskandar’s beard heating him up. “You are part of my greatest treasure, Waver.” His loyal army, his generals, his companions, his retainers- “Let me touch you.”

Waver swallowed, eyes hooded as a blush overtook his face and neck, pulse racing. As much as he was Iskandar’s, Iskandar was his. Waver’s palms settled on Iskandar’s shoulders and he licked his lips, eyes greedily taking in every bit of Iskandar’s muscle and craving that touch. “Yes,” he breathed. Iskandar’s eyes were bright with energy as always and Waver was drawn in, leaning down to kiss Iskandar’s neck himself, chaste and unsure but wanting to please. 

Iskandar didn’t waste time, kissing Waver’s neck again as he rubbed Waver’s sides with great sweeping motions, feeling him twitch and press against him. Without having to restrain himself any longer Iskandar was unabashedly handsy, sliding a hand under Waver’s shirt to caress the small of his back and then to dip right into his pants and squeeze his backside firmly. Waver hid his face against Iskandar’s darker skin with a groan, hips jutting forward. Iskandar nipped his neck and huffed fondly when the onslaught of sensation made Waver react so strongly. “Good, let me pleasure you until you fall apart trembling, and let me anchor you to this world in my arms.” 

Waver’s heart was pounding and his body a sensitive mess being teased and tuned like a string by Iskandar’s expert hands, but if he tried to voice any such lustful passion he would fail, his internal monologue practically reduced to a dial tone. Instead he impatiently yanked at Iskandar’s shirt, pointedly ignoring the amused laugh it got him. There was nothing sensual or romantic about the way their clothes fell to the floor in record time, both tearing off their own.

When he’d first seen Iskandar, Waver had been angry at how huge he was. There was no need to be this tall and brawny, it was ridiculous! It was still ridiculous, but now he let himself be brought back into Iskandar’s arms between his spread thighs, feeling as though he was encased by a thunderstorm in human form. Waver kissed him eagerly, moaning as Iskandar reached down to rub the back of Waver’s thighs, calloused hands stroking and light fingertips teasing his inner thighs and hamstrings as he positioned Waver astride his erection, grinning as he squeezed Waver’s ass again. 

“You never told me every bit of you was pretty, Waver.” Iskandar brought a hand around front, knuckles brushing Waver’s abdomen, barely able to squeeze between their bodies that were pressed flush to each other’s pelvises. 

“Shut up!” At last, words he was used to saying surfaced easily. Waver turned beet red and hid his face when Iskandar put his hand on him, wrist lazily pumping Waver almost to his peak but ceasing once he realized how close Waver was, leaving him leaking with just a pass of his thumb over Waver’s tip.

He tried to grind against Iskandar, disappointed by the loss and not caring that he was already on the verge of finishing. “Eager thing, but not yet.” Iskandar held him still with a firm grip on his back, humming with amusement into Waver’s ear as he squirmed. Iskandar messily drizzled lubricant on himself with his free hand, stroking himself between Waver’s legs with just a couple passes of his hand to coat it all over, some of it already streaked on Waver’s skin. 

“Come on!” Waver growled.

“Heh! You’re in charge now, boy. Squeeze your legs together.” 

Waver clenched his thighs and immediately groaned, mouth open. Iskandar rubbed his balls and the seat of the top of his thighs fluidly but forcefully. Waver rode him but Iskandar thrust up with even more force, indirect contact so good against him but not quite pushing him over. Iskandar grunted, not passive in anything and particularly not this, rocking up against Waver in a steady rhythm, coupling and making love to his already aching legs. He braced a hand on Waver’s back and dug his nails into him.

“Ah!”

“You like it a little rough, boy?” Iskandar smirked, winding his hand in the length of Waver’s hair that fell down his back and giving it a sharp but not harsh tug. 

Waver’s mouth fell open and he shuddered, clamping down around Iskandar. Sparks, sweat, sighs, all of it consumed him. He was in a blissful haze of pleasure and bodies moving in tandem, but his impatience won out and he reached for his own arousal, hastily getting himself off as Iskandar pulled his hair again, crying out as he spilled between them. 

True to his endurance level, every bone and muscle in his body went limp. He laid on Iskandar, glowing without the strength to move or care. Iskandar hmphed lowly, mirth in his eyes.

“I see how it is.”

“Oops,” said Waver without a hint of apology in his voice.

Iskandar grasped Waver below the hips, strong hands holding his legs together tight. Waver moaned as Iskandar resumed fucking his thighs, slick and thick and overstimulating him. Waver mewed pathetically and clawed Iskandar’s upper back but enjoyed the sensation of being used for Iskandar’s pleasure for a couple minutes to do anything but blush. He was gasping by the time Iskandar groaned and came all over his backside and thighs, riding his orgasm out until he was soft. 

“There, see? Feels good.” Iskandar kissed Waver’s cheek and smoothed down the hair he’d pulled. “You going to help clean? Half the mess is yours.”

“Uuuuuuuugh.” 

“You don’t care now, but once it dries-“

“UUUUUUUUGH.” 

Iskandar laughed, obnoxious and loud, rumbling against Waver’s prone body. “Even in sex, you are lazy! Selfish! Look at you, not lifting a finger in your afterglow! You impress me with your passive indulgence!”

“Two thirds of the mess is yours so YOU fix it.” 

Waver hadn't meant that he wanted to be carried to the bathroom shower, but once crammed in there with Iskandar he certainly didn’t try to leave. Hot water and tired but intimate contact soothed him as Iskandar washed his hair and scrubbed his skin. The last physical barrier between them was gone, and with it an emotional one. Waver made no effort to hide any part of his body, reciprocating touch and letting Iskandar fuss and pepper kisses across the back of his shoulders. 

Finally he could REST, curled up with Iskandar on the couch. Iskandar seemed content with his arm around Waver’s waist as he played video games while Waver smoked, pleased that a cigarette added to the heavy satisfaction in every muscle in his body. 

Everything about his life had changed because of Iskandar- yet nothing at all. His classroom and gaggle of students were his own domain, and the struggles and life or death challenges in his tenure as a Lord was easier but ultimately up to him to survive. Outside of the Tower he still frequented a cafe while working on papers, he still wrote game reviews, he still appeared just a Londoner sometimes with small or big shadows at his side or sometimes alone.

He had a full life, and so did Iskandar. 

He fell asleep against Iskandar’s chest with a beaming smile on his face, unrestrained and rare. Iskandar gazed at him with a soft expression of his own.

“You’ve finally learned to live fully, my loyal retainer.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I wanted to write something like this after I'd seen Zero and Case Files, and it's been in my head for about half of a year and worked on in passionate bouts over the course of months to try and get the specific vibes I feel from them pinned down. I deeply appreciate feedback and any of my friends who I sent blips to. Writing is lonely, but he muse for this was so strong that I'm delighted it's done!
> 
> These two are wonderful. I wouldn't be a Fate fan without them.
> 
> My tumblr is Stressbacon.tumblr.com


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